The Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot The Star By Gary Shook The Star card, more than almost any other has had its content and message changed over time to be less threatening to the established religious power structure. Its original Gnostic messages have been Christianized and made politically correct. The potential of the divine inner spirit was viewed as a threat to the orthodoxy. Why does one need the church as intermediary to God when that spirit can be manifest within? The Star card is a bridge card. Much as the Magician was the living bridge in the form of the hermaphrodite between the spirit and the flesh, so too is the star card between the flesh and the spirit. Everything that preceded this card was in preparation for it. Without the catharsis of the Fool's dark night of the soul he would not be prepared for the opportunity of the Star. The figure shown is the same as the one in the High Priestess. Now unclothed, she symbolizes the accessibility and openness that was cloaked and hidden before. The mysteries written in the closed book of the Torah are now revealed by experience; what once seemed distant and elusive is now obtainable. The light of the Star, more brilliant than the flash of lightning in the Tower and less so than the radiance of the Sun, is shown to be an inner light. For this is the light of the soul, the aspect of the Fool that is both of the material world and the spiritual. The Fool has become the path he once sought. For what you cannot find within yourself, you shall never find without. While the Fool now fully realizes and has become the veiled mystery of the High Priestess, that mystery has not itself become fully realized. The light of the Star, though pure, is still nascent. Symbolism The Land symbolizes the material aspect of existence, one half of the great duality. The Water symbolizes the spiritual/subconscious aspects of existence. The Figure is the living bridge between the material and the spiritual. She is both the Yin and the Yang, the Center of the Wheel. She is the point of balance between two extremes shown by the foot in water and the foot on earth. She is also Isis, the High Priestess, who unclothed reveals the mystery of the Fool's path. The Urns are symbols of balance and blending. The Bird: The Sacred Ibis links the card to Isis and symbolizes the transformation of consciousness. The Star: The eight-pointed star represents the soul. Its eight rays symbolize its balance between light and dark, between the mundane and the astral. The Seven Smaller Stars represent the seven main chakras that in themselves are bridges between the physical self and the astral self. The Mountain lies behind the star; it represents that which was overcome to reach this place. The Five Streams of Water represent the pentagram, the blending of the four Elements with Spirit within the self. This is part of a series of articles on the esoteric symbology of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Dr. Waite spoke to us not in words, but in hidden symbols. Symbols are truly the universal language expressing ideas in a way that, with study and contemplation, all can understand. But this understanding may not be the same for everyone who seeks it. While symbols do speak to all who will listen, they may say different things to different people. To truly understand the archetypal symbology of the Tarot, you must listen to a chorus of voices, not just one. Read as many different explanations as you can on the Tarot, and then the true meanings of the symbols will naturally come to you from within. | 
